


Visiting Hours

by GettheSalt



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Birds of a feather flock together as they say, Canon Compliant, Gen, Joey is a pumpkin, M/M, protect him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 13:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4961806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettheSalt/pseuds/GettheSalt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I'm going to be rude here, but I think I've earned it, considering I'm a prisoner.” Mack's mouth thinned into an unimpressed line, but he didn't correct Joey's word choice. “Are you... You're gay?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Visiting Hours

Joey had gotten used to this place. Sort of. As much as one can get used to what is essentially a very nice prison in the space of 24 hours, with guards who always minded their P's and Q's, and, so far, more well-rounded meals than he tended to make for himself on a daily basis.

He wasn't under any disillusions, and Daisy had made the situation pretty clear, the first time they'd really, truly spoken. His powers were uncontrollable, which was a problem. He was an easy target, evidenced by the guys in the SWAT gear who'd been ready to take him before Daisy and her guys had shown up and blown them away – literally. That, too, was a problem, because it meant that he would have to be constantly watching over his shoulder, keeping an eye on all-comers, because he could never know who was just a bystander, and who was part of that _other_ agency that wanted to pick people like him up. For what, he hadn't been told, but could guess. Experimentation, questioning, extermination. Any and all of those things were possible.

It was a far cry from the quiet construction worker's life he'd been living before.

And all because he'd been good to his body – _hah_ – and taken his vitamins.

Fat lot of good that had done him. Sure, maybe he was a little healthier, but he was still locked up in an admittedly nice one room suite, done in slightly intimidating white, on some kind of para-military base.

A base that had, just a little while ago, been full of running, shouting people. Joey had jumped when he'd heard it, and immediately checked his surroundings, sure that they'd been coming for him, that he'd started to damage _something_ without knowing it. With how volatile and unpredictable his powers were, it wouldn't have surprised him.

It hadn't been him, though, that the running and shouting had been related to, and, soon enough, Joey had nearly forgotten about it. They were some kind of underground agency, he was sure there was cause for running and shouting more often than not. Of course, with the ruckus they'd been making, he wasn't sure, exactly, how they managed not to be found out, but that was none of his business.

Hell, not even his business was really his business anymore.

Once the shouting had quieted down, he'd gone back to idly surfing through channels. Again, some kind of underground agency, but with way, way better than basic cable. Hell, their set-up was better than what Joey himself had at home. How did they manage this? Were they stealing cable?

He snorted, amused at the thought. It was something he needed to hold on to, because in the last day, he hadn't found very much that actually was amusing, minus when Daisy had told him he was a superhuman of some kind.

Yeah, no. He wasn't an Avenger or anything like that, and she had to be kidding. 

Maybe he'd get lucky and these people would find a way to get rid of the powers that were making it taxing and terrifying for him to touch most anything around him. That would be nice. They would probably let him go, then. Maybe a quick mind-wipe, but, honestly, Joey would be happy to forget any of this had happened.

He'd had one major secret in his life already, and keeping it hidden had felt like trying to kill a big part of himself, slowly, over time. This secret was potentially a lot more dangerous. If he could be rid of it, and forget that it had ever happened, he'd be happy. 

This wasn't like being gay. This was being a ticking time bomb, and it was something that Joey Gutierrez absolutely didn't want.

The door to his cell – because that's what it was, wasn't it? - opened, interrupting his idle thoughts, and Joey straightened up on the couch, pulling his legs off of it to set his feet on the floor, looking to see who was visiting him now. Daisy had been by not that long ago, only shortly before the running and shouting had started, so it was possible she was back.

The hulking frame standing in the doorway while it closed firmly behind him, however, definitely wasn't Daisy. Joey frowned for a second, trying to remember what Daisy had said this guy's name was. Her partner, the teddy bear.

Mack.

“Uh...” He started, raising a hand in greeting. “Hi?”

Mack smiled, a small but kind thing, and pointed at the other end of the couch. “Mind if I join you?”

“Ok _aaa_ y...” Joey's frown deepened, and he shifted even further into his side of the couch while Mack sat down. “Do you people just regularly come and hang out with your prisoners?”

“You're not a prisoner here, you know.” Mack said, sitting back on the couch. He didn't relax. He didn't look really comfortable, and Joey found that interesting. The man was huge, and probably had a good amount of muscle on Joey himself. His powers might be volatile, but from the little bit of experimentation he'd done – unintentionally, while he'd been trying to get to the hospital – he was sure they didn't work on organic matter. Specifically humans. If that was why Mack was seemingly withdrawn and edgy, he really shouldn't be. Joey held up a hand again, in demonstration. “These things aren't dangerous. They're enough reason to lock me up, but I don't think... I don't _know_ , but I don't _think_ they'll work on you. You can relax.”

Mack didn't.

Joey could respect that, realistically. Mack didn't know him, and, really, they couldn't know that he was really harmless. They hadn't tested him.

“I wanted to come and give you a heads up.” Mack started, fixing him with a level look. “Daisy would be, but she's working on something else right now. We do have a professional on base who can assess you, and suggest what we can do, going forward, to make this easier on you. To get you back in the world.”

Joey's chest seized with hope. “A cure?”

The look on Mack's face told him what he needed to know. The man looked almost apologetic. 

“Not a cure.”

“No.” Mack confirmed. “There isn't really one, as far as we can tell. Like Daisy said, there are just folks out there, like you, who happen to have these dormant abilities, and got them unlocked.”

“By fish oil pills.” Joey laughed, humourless, and leaned back against the arm of the couch. “So, this professional is, what? A shrink? He's going to analyze me and tell you guys if I'm mentally stable. Because, I'll be honest, I can tell you right now I'm going to fail that one. I'm melting things with my hands.” He held them up and out for emphasis, and was quietly impressed when Mack didn't flinch back. “I feel like I just stepped out of a comic book. Nothing in my life makes sense any more. No doctor's going to sign off on me, not right now.”

Mack nodded, solemn. He didn't say anything, but Joey felt that he didn't have to. That nod was enough to communicate that Mack sympathized, in whatever way, with what he was saying.

Daisy was nice and all, but she came across rather aggressively. She wanted, expected, and hoped for things for the people she was taking in, and while Joey hated being a disappointment, for now, he was going to have to be. Daisy had seemed to begrudgingly accept that, earlier. Mack, now, was seeming to not only accept it, but not expect much beyond it.

Maybe it was the level of stress he was under, but Joey really, really liked that. That, more than anything, more than even the beer Daisy had brought him, helped him feel more at ease.

“There was... kind of a commotion, earlier.” He said. Being more at ease also meant that he felt confident enough to push and see what these people would tell him. Obviously, things would be on a need to know basis, and he, especially, didn't need to know, but it didn't hurt to ask. “Shouting and running. Is everything okay?”

Mack surprised him by huffing a little bit of a laugh, and actually seeming to relax. “Honestly? I don't know. It might be, or things might be about to get a lot worse.” He must have noticed how Joey tensed, because he put out a steadying hand. “Not for you. One of the people here... She went missing, few months ago. Might finally have a good lead on her, but it almost...” Mack shrugged, his gaze far away. Something in that look told Joey that this woman's disappearance wasn't normal, in any way, shape, or form.

“Feels like everything could go even more wrong?” Joey filled in. Mack nodded, muttering a quiet 'yeah'. “Seems to be the order for the week.” Joey continued, the dam burst now. Mack was easy to talk to, and if he was going to be locked up for the foreseeable future, he was going to get as much friendly conversation as he could. “Things going more wrong, I mean. Probably... Not the same, but, for me. Few weeks back, I break up with my boyfriend, decide to get healthier. That includes the fish oil pills. Now, I'm out of a long-term relationship, and I have magical melting powers. Getting healthier _seemed_ like a good thing, you know?”

Another nod, but this one was accompanied by Mack actually looking at him. Looking at him in a way that made Joey almost feel like he was being put on display, to be picked apart and analyzed. 

Maybe he shouldn't have said what he'd said. That woman, Bobbi, had known these things about him, and Joey had suspected that meant that they all did. Maybe, though, Mack had been trying to ignore it. Maybe that was the reason why he'd been so stiff, sitting on the other side of the couch. He could do his best to work with the 'Inhumans' they were taking in, but that other aspect of Joey made him uncomfortable.

Something of his thought process must have shown on his face, because Mack's eyes widened just a bit, and he shook his head. “Sorry. Wasn't thinking what you might think I was.”

“What were you thinking, then?” Joey asked, genuinely curious.

Mack looked away, looking around the room. The walls were white, the bed, everything was so  _white_ . There was so much white in the room, Joey felt like just by sitting here, he was dirtying it irreversibly. “Just that I hope Dr. Garner can help you out. You seem like a good guy, and we could use someone like you around here.” Mack shrugged. “For me, having another guy around here who gets it? Not that I don't like the guys, but it would be nice not to be the lower half the ratio.”

Was Mack saying what Joey thought he was?

“I'm going to be rude here, but I think I've earned it, considering I'm a prisoner.” Mack's mouth thinned into an unimpressed line, but he didn't counter Joey's terminology again. “Are you... You're gay?”

Mack tipped his head to the side, shrugging once again. “When I do actually get into relationships.”

“You're a gay super-secret agent.”

That got a laugh out of Mack, and he shook his head. “Daisy's the superagent. I'm just secret. I'm actually more of a mechanic, but she needs someone with her out in the field who can be intimidating, even if she's the muscle. Hunter – the Brit who was with us – can't be that guy. That leaves me. Plus, I'm not really comfortable with all this alien stuff. Makes me the voice of reason, the Director assumes.”

Joey filed away those names – Hunter, and the Director – for later, and nodded. “What are the chances of two gay tradesmen meeting because of some freak fish oil pills?”

Mack's smile stayed put, and Joey found himself smiling back. “Just an average day in my life, man. It gets weirder every year.”

There was a quiet beep, and Mack shifted on the couch, pulling loose something that looked like a cell phone, but was probably a cell-phone-slash-gun or something equally ridiculous, from his pocket. “That's me being pulled away, though.” 

The other man got up, and Joey found himself getting to his feet to follow. Not to leave his cell – he wasn't stupid enough to try that again – but he might as well be the polite prison host and see his guest out. “Dr. Garner will be here to see you, shortly.” Mack explained, facing the door and holding up a white and orange pass card to the scanner. There was another soft beep, and the door opened with a hiss. “He's a nice guy. Very calming. Just answer his questions honestly, and you'll be fine.”

Joey nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “Yeah. Thanks for giving me the heads up. I wouldn't have reacted well to having a shrink sprung on me with no notice.”

“That's fair.” Mack allowed, stepping out of the cell. “I'll see you later.”

Joey raised his hand, giving a short wave as he watched the other man go. Shockingly enough, he'd enjoyed that visit more than he'd anticipated. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, here, if he had someone who at least shared some of his life, to talk to. Daisy with the powers, and Mack with the sexuality. 

It was still a prison, but maybe this place wouldn't be so bad.

 


End file.
